Chilean-born photographer Camilo José Vergara was working on a graduate degree at Columbia University in the early 1970's.

Vergara spent his time in the City photographing as much as he could, and captured the grit and grime from several boroughs and dozens of neighborhoods.

It is hard to imagine just how big of a transformation New York City went through to get where we are today, in just 45 years none-the-less, but these photos of the "Good Old Days" may help you appreciate the efforts that went into cleaning up the City.